A Day In The Life of a Lifestyle Blogger

Most people get confused when I say I’m a blogger. In fact, some even told me that it must be nice to just sit around the house and take pictures to write – In a funny tone of course. Phew! What a misconception. What is it about blogging that causes people to think that it’s not a real job? Perhaps we, the bloggers, don’t show enough of the backend hustle and late-night stay-ups to perfect an article or rather to learn more about the market strategy to write an interesting blog post for our readers. Today, I’m gonna share with you what I really do as a Lifestyle Blogger.

Everything evolving around us is a story. An old building has a story, the chai-walla uncle on the street has a story and even our ancestors have a story to how they overcame the war. And we bloggers, bring their stories to come forth to life through the art of writing. So, even if it means we are blogging down the cafe, there’s a story brewing! It’s the passion we bloggers have to share knowledge so others will benefit from it. Haven’t we all seen a fashion blogger? If she’s wearing a cropped boyfriend jeans with rolled cuffs, layer on a crisp white shirt, and top it all with a colorful bomber jacket, don’t we will all wear it?

I can’t count the number of times someone has told me how they wished they could work whenever the mood struck and take time off whenever they wanted. I’ve heard all of that and more in my 4 years of doing this blogging thing. I’ve long since stopped being offended and have started responding with, “Me too! If you ever find a career that lets you do that, please let me know!” Because blogging is NOT that kind of job.

How my blogger day looks like?

I’m a morning person. I prefer starting my day early because it helps me get a lot done during sunlight, which is when I’m the most productive. The first thing I do is drink a glass of water before starting on to my morning prayer. That’s the first task of the day. Regardless of whatever time I head to bed, I always wake up to pray. I truly believe that when we seek God in the early hours, we find peace that surpasses all understanding. And it attracts good vibes because our minds started out right. Sometimes, I’ll go back to bed after my prayers and on active days, I’ll jump out of the bed and head to the gym. Today I’ll share my routine when I’m home:

5 AM – 8 AM – Prayers & Meditation

I pray. Putting God first every morning brings so much joy and strength to my soul. Some ask me how is that possible? See, when you decide to serve God with your whole heart and make Him the very first in your life, your blessing outpours and you achieve peace. Pure peace.

Once I’m done praying, I’ll head onto the living room to read. Reading is a good habit that nurtures my mind to grasp knowledge, and when I say reading. I really meant taking a physical book to read. I love the smell of pages (kinda weird but yeah) and just touching and writing notes in my book gives me so composure. During this time, it’s digital cleansing: meaning NO e-book, NO checking on my social media, NO newspaper/news channel so avoid negative energies… it’s simply no distractions during this moment. It’s just me, my morning caffeine, meditation music playing in the background and my candles. Gosh, I love candles!!

9:00 AM – 10 AM

My partner makes me breakfast every morning. I love these times because it’s our time in the morning that we spend together before he goes off to work. During these times we mostly uplift each other and share our thoughts and plans about the day. It can be as basic as ‘what you’re cooking for lunch babe?’ to just teasing each other. Either way, we bond over breakfast. To me, simple happiness is the most profound. It makes me look forward to having breakfast every day because the energy that my partner puts out builds my soul because he understands my purpose and goal. And that’s very important for my well-being.

Breakfast goal is simple, I keep myself full till lunchtime so I don’t get distracted while I get my work started. I dislike distractions.

Cherisha

10 AM – 2 PM

I generally start working between 10 AM onwards. My work never starts before 10 AM unless I have an appointment or something really urgent to attend to,

Every day, I take out my 5 minutes in the morning mindful journal and write down affirmations. All I need is 5 minutes to focus on my self-development: Next, as follows:

• ⇆ Check on Google analytics to see how the blog is doing.
• ⇆ Reading emails from clients + brands + readers ?
• ⇆ Write down the most important and least important task to work on so I get things sorted before the day ends.
• ⇆ Proofread my E-books.
• ⇆ Edit videos & watch Youtube videos to edit creatively.
• ⇆ Block witty scam emails in the spam box.

Everyday I check the blog stats on Google analytics to see how my blog is doing and I review the SEO optimization. Reading email always takes a long time so I save this for the last just so I don’t miss out on any unattended email. During this time, I always make sure to have my hot earl grey tea beside my table to get through with emails.

Next, I love this part.

I’m either writing a blog post, reviewing a PR product, shooting a blog post, or all of the above. Depending on what I need to stage, I often create the space between the interiors of my house or I walk outdoors to shoot ? them. I prefer to work in silence, though it’s not necessarily silent because I tend to play soulful meditation music in the background or I talk to myself while I write.

A fun morsel: Most blog posts take me a full day, if not two days, to finish. While you might think they’re nothing more than stream-of-conscious musings, they are truly a labor of love!

Cherisha

2:15 PM – 4 PM

Make lunch and reconnect with my partner. This is the time he needs to calm his nerves so I usually let him speak about his day and shortcomings so I could give him my word of comfort. In between, we exchange compliments and spend time watching Netflix’s ‘Night on Earth’ series. Something we always do because it’s so educational and interesting.

I clean the house, do the dishes and tidy up the entire space. I don’t like to call myself a ‘clean freak‘ but that’s how I am. I have the need to keep my house tidy and neat because it helps me think right. I totally despise it when the envelope from the mailbox is on the living room table (uff can anyone related to me?) or 1 teeny tiny spoon in the sink. I have this desire from my utmost soul to just clean. And no, it’s not OCD, I just like a cleaner environment. After 4 PM onwards, I’d run some errands or walk outside (if the weather permits) and get some fresh air. I prepare an early dinner so I can begin the second part of my day.

Part two of my workday begins at 7 PM

I’m back on the blog, I’m writing, proofreading, or publishing. I schedule my blog posts, schedule my social media posts, download photos from my cameras to edit. I snack a quick cereal milk bowl ahem! those are my guilty pleasures. This in-between meal is always eaten while I’m working on something. And I am generally full through dinner time.

10:00 pm – Edit photos

By this point, my brain is mush and I can’t write anymore, so I spend the evening editing, tagging, and flagging photos for future blog posts. I do all of this in Lightroom & VSCO, and since it’s not something I need to fully concentrate on, I usually sprawl on the couch and watch the Queen of South series on Netflix … all this in my PJ’s !!

I also spend a few minutes checking on my Google analytics. Within the hour, my eyelids feel like they have kettlebells on them and then by 12:30 AM I crash.

Gratitude.

There’s a rhythm to most of my days but the routine is ever-changing, and I think that’s what makes the work so fulfilling. I love waking up every day and thinking of all the work ahead of me.

This is just a general breakdown of my day, and there’s a great deal of variation depending on what I have going on that week. Some days, I only work an hour or two and spend the rest of the time goofing off. Other days, if I have major projects and looming deadlines, I work from morning to night with barely a break in between.

Such is the life of a blogger or at least a glimpse into mine. I try to balance my work life and personal life but as many freelancers can tell you, the lines are blurred when you work at home. It’s hard to turn off the phone or put away the laptop when it’s right there, and I’m guilty of taking the phone into the bathtub sometimes when I’m behind on emails.

But compared to my previous career, when I routinely worked 10- to 12-hour days, blogging is a blessing.